


Dodging Social Bullets- Beginner Edition

by Starcast_Dreamer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dads of Marmora (Voltron), F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 12:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16095680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starcast_Dreamer/pseuds/Starcast_Dreamer
Summary: I took an amazing story and made it less amazing. Enjoy!





	Dodging Social Bullets- Beginner Edition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SonofHades](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonofHades/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Blue Shells and Comic Books](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9913409) by [SonofHades](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonofHades/pseuds/SonofHades). 



Keith’s childhood wasn’t the clearest, nor was it the happiest. Orphaned at the young age of four, blurry memories and snatchets of hummed words were all he had to remember his parents. He was tossed around in foster care for about a year and a half, before being adopted by a group of men that he’d made an impression on. On the adoption form, he technically belonged to Thace and Ulaz, but seeing as they lived in perfect harmony with Antok and Kolivan, all of them like brothers, it was easy to forget. (None of them were dating or married though. That would be weird) The four of them together ran a company called Marmora Publishing. Keith grew up surrounded by literature and art, encouraged to learn and soak up facts about the world. Keith did just that. When he was about eight, he developed a friendship with the neighbor’s son Shiro, who was soon to be a teenager. They soon acted like brothers with Keith’s sarcasm and coarse image clashing and complimenting with Shiro’s veiled pessimism and friendly demeanor. Keith’s life may not have had the best beginnings, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

 

You know when your life is going to change when the way you perceive the world shifts. His shift came in the form of one Katie Holt. The most tech-savvy, I won’t deal with your crap, spitfire, world hardened child genius you’ll ever meet. She, of course, could act like the perfect friend making, little lady but the minute you turned your attention away and your assumptions of her were set, she would go off into the land of trouble. She was never caught at it either, well until she ran head first into Keith. The scene went like this. 

 

-Flashback- 

Keith had a pact with his ‘dads’. He had to attend three of the seventeen meetings/ social business gatherings they had planned this month. He of course, chose the most interesting ones. The one with all of the running authors chatting about future directions of stories. The one with the merchandise and social spreading teams who were going to be discussing fresh ways to shove ahead of the competition. And the one with the consultants. That one was his favorite. They brought in physics experts and researchers and biologists that offered tips to lend reality to the stories that were sewn at Marmora Publishing. Plus, they were encouraged to bring their families. Some of the kids were jerks, others were shy, most of them ignored him. Keith was sulking in a side hallway because one child or another told him he belonged to no one important, and Keith wasn’t about to spill about his caretakers. 

 

All of the sudden, a tiny girl ran headfirst into Keith as she ducked around the corner. “Oof! Why are you in such a- hey!” While he was dusting himself off, the girl had pulled a small handmade taser on him. 

 

“If you let a word of this encounter go beyond this hallway tonight, I will shock you so hard you’ll see into next week.” Most people would have yelled for help, or meekly subsided. Keith corrected her grip. 

 

“Name’s Keith Kogane. Yours is Kath- Katie Holt, right? I saw you coming in with your dad. You’ve got a mask in front of adults too? Welcome to the club.” 

 

“You won’t turn me in?” Katie said suspiciously. 

 

“Nah. All the kids here hate me, and I could use a friend that’s smarter than me for once.” Keith said in the most nonchalant voice he could muster. Inside, he really, really wanted to be Katie’s friend. If she could make a taser, she was the right sort to hang with. He didn’t like the way other girls simpered and dramatized. Katie was down to Earth, and he was betting she would be a good source of advice in the future. 

 

Katie’s eyes scanned him up and down, looking for any sign he was lying. After what seemed like ages, she lowered the taser and offered a hand. “Name’s Katie as you already know, hope we can work well together.” 

 

-Flashforward- 

 

Work well they did. That single encounter set them on the course to one of the strongest friendships either knew about or experienced. 

 

They texted during school, which both of them could pass with hardly a glance and did information binges at sleepovers that slowly grew in number until Katie just had her own room at his almost mansion and that he was given a key to the Holt household. They started this tradition where they wrote down fifteen dares and chose three at New Year’s and had to complete them before the year ended. Matt (her older brother) and Shiro were fast friends that hung out and confided in each other as well, so car rides weren’t a problem. (They would have gotten around it even if it was one.) 

 

The duo never let the difference in gender bother them. After all, they were friends first and foremost. Maybe if they liked they could explore romance in later years. On Katie’s ninth birthday he bought her tools so she could personally tune her piano. ((“I wonder what this is?” She shook the box. “It’s kind of large, and is that metal?” … “OHMYGOSH” “Yah, picked these up last month.” “YOU ARE THE BEST FRIEND I WILL EVER HAVE!” “Umm, okay? - OOF”)) She was so happy that on his twelfth birthday, roughly three weeks later, she gave him a drawing tablet that she personally designed. That small gift was the opening into the next ‘chapter’ of his life. 

 

Voltron was meant to be a thank you. (She had written him a song…) He had been writing out scenes and had a good plot but had never taken any action with the spreading of the idea. With the new tablet he sketched out characters based on people in his own life. Hunk, the caring Hawaiian boy who rocked home economics class, became Peter, the rock of the team. Lance, the jokester that had broken down crying in the library after school hours because his little sister was in the hospital doubled Marcus, sharpshooter who held the team together. Katie, who was leaning on going by Pidge turned Jordan, master coder and smallest-but-can-still-kick-your-butt arm of Voltron. Shiro, who was technically Takashi, was made into Kaiso, the leader that never forgot those who had his back. And himself. Spun into Akira, a blazing no nonsense ‘emo’ that was the weapon of the ragtag group. The princess Ayla was pure Allura, the girl- no woman, that Shiro was currently dating. (He totally shipped it.) He threw his dads into there too, as leaders of the rebellion, but that wouldn’t be introduced until much, much, later. Details and appearances were tweaked, and set as university students, because as things became more serious, he didn’t want the hormones of early teenagers on the battlefield. He slowly developed the first ‘season’ of his very own graphic novel. Really, it was a script and some sketches thrown together. Despite that, his freshman year of high school, with Pidge leaping up a few grades to join him, he presented it to her in a file. She devoured it. Setting up for a working weekend, the two of them sketched a plot to the end of season two. She helped him link events and add in foreshadowing to get readers hooked. There was diversity, an amazing plot, and with a few years of work, beautiful drawings. In the midst of tenth grade, he passed the finished first season, eleven books in all, but the first noticeably thicker. Combined, the total work was thicker than the Inheritance Cycle, the large dragon books Keith had spent ages reading. All fully illustrated, colored, and printed. It was glorious. His pseudo fathers loved the idea, and it they released the first ‘episode’ within the month. Under a pen name of course. Keith even got his own bank account for the proceeds that would (he thought) be relatively small. He was wrong. Over the next year, Nyx Morris was an up and coming author. Following the tips, tricks, and processes he had done with Pidge, (as she wanted to be surprised) Keith mapped out season three in his final year of high school. Voltron was expected to hit worldwide ranks in graphic novels. His audience was massive. It was friendly enough to be read by kids, but the main focus was on teenagers. Adults were lead on by the intriguing story and possibilities that the characters represented. 

 

The graphic novels were the basis, but there was a slew of side things that only increased his popularity. The merchandise was roughly a third of the extra proceeds. He also had social media once they started picking up popularity. (Upon Pidge’s insistence.) Once a viral post from one of his dad’s hit the internet, he posted weekly. The post in question was a photo of him under a giant stuffed lion that had been made by a fan. All you could see were the tips of his feet as his relatively short stature was used against him. The caption read: “We showed him how popular he was and he has refused to get out until he can accept it.” People went crazy over the fact that the author thought he wasn’t popular, and it backfired by making him easier to connect with. The populace clamored for his identity, starting rumors that he would be certain places. Keith never showed his face, but occasionally he posted about his fan base, in hopes that they would slowly stop wondering who he was. It didn’t work. He liked certain pieces of fanfiction, so he posted the title and author. If he liked fan art, he would repost it. He was loved for his own love of his fanbase. Keith decided to mainly ignore it so he could lead a relatively normal life. I mean it’s college, the time to set yourself in life. He didn’t need people bugging him every moment on campus. What could go wrong anyway?


End file.
